Way back when I was selling the Planet Penny yarn I created a pattern for some teeny tiny crochet mini mice. I still get enquiries about them to this day so I thought it was time to dust off the pattern. It’s been lurking in storage ever since I closed the Etsy shop!

They are a really good way of using up oddments of yarn and make great Christmas tree decorations, ornaments for hair slides and pins and as I originally intended, fridge magnets.

They are fun to make and very quick and easy. I’ve updated the pattern and turned it into a PDF so it can be printed off.

I also have a question. There is still some of the Planet Penny yarn left in storage. Not the full colour range so no rainbow packs. I’m not going to be able use up half of my other yarn stash let alone this one! I wonder if there would be any interest if I make balls available to buy on this website. I’m afraid it would be UK only since the whole process of sending things abroad has been made so difficult these days.

It would take a bit of organising so it would be good to know if anyone is interested first. Please leave a comment if you are.

You can find the free PDF here…I do hope you enjoy the pattern!

See you soon…x

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This week we went to visit somewhere that’s been on my bucket list for a long time…Sutton Hoo. As a family we have always been interested in fossils and bones and buried treasure! It starts off with dinosaurs, doesn’t it, when they are really tiny? All my children, and then grandchildren were the same. Eldest son still comes back from the beach with pockets full of exciting bits and pieces. My daughter-in-law is very long suffering! So far he hasn’t dragged a mammoth tusk home, but that’s not for the want of looking.

Sutton Hoo doesn’t date back that far, a mere 1,300 years, but is a fascinating and exciting historical find. If you have watched the 2021 film ‘The Dig’ you will know quite a bit about the story, although it was inevitably romanticised. If you haven’t seen it, it’s well worth a watch.

What made it especially interesting was that the person who organised the visit, a member of the walking group to which my husband belongs, actually had first-hand knowledge of the excavation work done in the sixties. Her archaeologist father was co-director of the dig and as a child she spent quite a lot of time there. This, combined with extremely knowledgeable National Trust guides, made for a fascinating and informative visit.

I’m rather embarrassed to say that I was ridiculously excited to be taken through a door in the house which was marked, ‘Archaeologists Only‘!

Higgins came too, of course, and just about managed to keep up with all the walking. There were plenty of people to give him a cuddle though, when necessary.

Back to the present day now, and the frogging of a bit of sock. You’d think by now I’d be able to do it off by heart but knitting in the evening when it’s past my bedtime is not a good idea. (No-one has a foot that shape!)

I’ll be back soon…x

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Oof! I really do need to catch up! Brain fog obviously leads to brain freeze, not helpful.

Woke up to a beautiful autumn morning…

You really wouldn’t think I was in the corner of a muddy field in Norfolk, would you?

But despite the tropical feel to the day, I’m actually addressing the C word, whisper it…Christmas! Every year I have the best of intentions and then leave making presents and decorations until far, far too late. And I think this year a lot of us will be think how best to budget for uncertain times while still capturing some seasonal magic and being able to spoil our loved ones in some way.

There’s the whole ‘boring socks and pants’ for men thing but I think I’ve cracked it with socks. My menfolk actually ask to be given hand knitted socks for Christmas. (I’m not going down the knitted underpants route!)

I’ve gone all out with ribbon yarn and have been making sets of little baskets.

These are really useful for all the little odds and ends which accumulate in the bedroom, bathroom or sewing table, and can be filled with goodies to suit the recipient. I can usually make a set in an evening in front of television with a dachshund on my lap, helping!

The yarn is from Hobbii where it is currently half price, and it comes in forty-six different colours. (I wish I hadn’t looked now; I might have to buy some more!) The pattern was from Hobbii too although there is a huge choice of different styles to choose from.

Another pattern I have to hand when it comes to an easy knit for a handmade gift is the Baktus Scarf which I first made several years ago.

Another really quick knit! I can’t find the original pattern I used but Cowgirlblues has a similar one if you are thinking of making it. I’d love to make one in self striping yarn just to see how it turns out, but I must not buy any more yarn until I’ve finished at least one of my WIPs!

So, I’d better get working again, so many socks, so little time…

See you soon…x

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I was out this morning and very happy to see that despite being quite breezy it was sunny and warm. Just the sort of day to do some stuff in the garden I thought. Having come home and had a bite to eat I discovered the moment had gone. Higgins and I have been left looking at the rain hammering down. All thoughts of gardening discarded.

But I took photos the other day and they are just what we need to cheer us up on a soggy day.

I have to confess that the beautiful bits of our garden are entirely down to my son. He works as a landscape gardener and plants are his passion. The more exotic the better! As he is currently without his own garden we have reaped the benefit.

The bits you don’t see are the ones I’m responsible for. These are the bits that desperately need attention, on a dry day!

This year I did quite well in the vegetable garden for the first time. Lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and courgettes. It was jolly hard work keeping up with the watering! I really have to stop trying to grow any sort of brassica. I think the entire cabbage white butterfly population in Norfolk gorged itself on the fancy kale I grew.

But the biggest success I had this year was finally growing sweet peas and keeping them going nearly all summer. These are one of my favourite flowers but until this year I’ve failed hopelessly. This year I bought a fabulous selection from Higgledy Garden and they bloomed and bloomed. I was able to have bunches in the house continuously, filling the house with scent. It’s time to sow them again for next year, another reason why I must get outside. But not today!

See you tomorrow…x

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I am sooo behind with my temperature blanket! One of the hazards of having far too many projects on the go at once. I blame my butterfly brain, always fluttering off to the next pretty thing which appears over the horizon. However, this is it so far:

I’ve reached the end of June!

But, I keep a journal where I try very hard to record the daily maximum and minimum temperatures every day so I can catch up, eventually. I reckon if I can knit ten rows a day I might just get to where I thought I’d be. The plan was I’d knit two rows every day of the year (pause for a hollow laugh!) That will be alongside all the socks, mittens, scarves etc which I’m planning or currently making!

I’m really pleased with how it looks though, and it will be a good reminder of this year when we reached the record highs on my birthday. I spent the day languishing indoors in front of an industrial fan and cold drinks!

I found the colour ideas on the Lovecrafts website, and the yarn used is Stylecraft Special. You might remember that I used this way back when in 2010 and it’s a great yarn for blanket projects.

I love using natural fibres where possible, but if you have children or animals to contend with you need to be able to throw blankets in the washing machine without worrying about them shrinking. Add in the reasonable price and the huge range of colours it’s win win all round. (The only things it hasn’t stood up to are Higgins teeth!)

The temperature blanket is knitted in moss stitch so there is no right or wrong side to the finished blanket and there are two rows for each day, the maximum and minimum temperatures. Rather than working in literally hundreds of ends I’m making fringed edges. This winter we are going to need all the blankets we can make!

Have you made a temperature blanket or scarf? I’d love to know how it went. I’m off now to knit a couple more rows before I need to stop to cook the evening meal. I will also get wuffed at very soon by a small dog who wants his tea, NOW!

See you very soon…x

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Hello, and thank you for the lovely comments on my previous posts. It’s great to be back, and I’m gradually beginning to get back into the blogging mindset. Photograph everything… write notes… get out of the house and do stuff!

But today I discover it is also Socktober! Why have I never heard of this before? I found out it began as a charity in the US which I think is a wonderful idea. This year I’m going to use it as a reminder to knit more socks. The chaps in our family always seem to appreciate hand knitted socks, the madder the colour scheme the better. I can’t walk past a wool shop or scroll past a woolly website without finding something else to add to my sock yarn stash so I really need to work my way through a few balls.

I’m currently at the point of turning the heel on this first pair of Silly Socks:

But the ones I really love are these, where I get to use the odds and ends of all the socks I’ve ever knitted to make some which are always completely unique.

I’ve been hunting round to find other bloggers taking part in Blogtober and found the lovely Louise Tilbrook who is also a Socktober fan. Her blog is here and you’ll some find super free patterns and autumn knits along with the socks.

If you are a fellow Blogtoberer (can that be a word? it is now!) do stop by and leave a link. And if you just want to say hi, please do. The world out there is pretty grim and us crafty people need to stick together in our cosy little world.

Hugs…and see you soon…x

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